Familiars: The Best Little Guys in Magic

Hello! Hope you're doing well. This week we're taking a break from Legends Legends in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit in light of the recent, well, everything that's been happening. In times of stress, I tend to retreat under the covers and watch cat videos as an escape from the endless onslaught of bile online and in the news media; a healthy coping mechanism, I'm sure. I've tried to port that feeling over to a Commander's Herald article. Today, we're running down a list of Magic: The Gathering's favorite familiars! What are they, what do they do, and do they share anything mechanically? Let's find out!

What Are Familiars?

"Familiars," in non-MTG terms, are supernatural allies of wizards and magi across all fantasy settings. They could take the form of a wizard's owl companion, a warlock's possessed homunculus, a witch's cantankerous toad, and much more! Familiars appear in all sorts of shapes and sizes, their only constant is their comradery with their arcane masters. 

In Magic, familiars have no special mechanics inherently. They're not even technically a creature type! That said, most have effects or abilities that support you (their wizard-y companion) or your other creatures. Many familiars are "owned" by something else, like Stonebinder's Familiar, or have an inherent connection to a certain type of mage, like Thaumaturge's Familiar or Necromancer's Familiar. Some are even owned by specific characters, like Jhoira's Familiar. Regardless of their origin, all familiars are good boys/girls/automatons and deserve our unconditional love.

Cauldron Familiar

Cauldron Familiar is famous for the havoc it wreaked on Standard by sacrificing it over and over with Witch's Oven. The option to return it to the battlefield without spending any mana makes Cauldron Familiar one of the most playable on our list, especially considering it only takes one other card to start bouncing it in and out of the graveyard. 

In Commander, Cauldron Familiar sees play in any number of Food decks. Gyome, Master Chef is the most popular choice, but Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar also fits the bill for a Food-focused commander in black.

Commander Legends Partner Familiars

The five mono-colored partner familiars from Commander Legends form a cycle of creatures intended to protect or augment your commander's abilities. [/el]Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar[/el] is often heralded as the savior of aggro decks in Commander, suddenly making combat damage a viable win condition in a multiplayer game. I run a copy of Esior in my Talrand, Sky Summoner deck just for the sake of protecting him, and Anara, Wolvid Familiar in my General Marhault Elsdragon deck, since I'm on the offensive so much.

Since each of these legendary familiars has partner, it stands to reason they should go in the command zone when building your partner deck. However, I would argue there's still some play to be had by including them in your 99. If you've got two commanders, perhaps in a Reyhan, Last of the Abzan/Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker deck, dropping any of these familiars will double their effectiveness, since you've got two commanders (that aren't one of your familiars) to enjoy the benefits!

Ertai's Familiar

Ertai's Familiar is, to my knowledge, the first ever Familiar card. It's a 2/2 for two in blue that we can only use every other turn due to its phasing ability. We can pay one blue mana to keep it around, but unless there's some secret tech to this card that I can't find, there's really no reason to run this out. It is noteworthy, however, that this cute guy is one of only two cards Kip Witting has ever illustrated for Magic: The Gathering, the other being Dwarven Thaumaturgist.

Planeshift Familiars

These are probably the most famous familiars of the bunch. Planeshift's cost-reduction familiars each reduce the cost of spells played by their allies colors by one generic mana. This makes them valuable includes in any two- or three-color decks that need a little help ramping. I don't think I've seen a Grixis-aligned deck without Nightscape Familiar in years at this point. 

Besides their obvious value to three color decks, I want to make a case here for their inclusion in more two-color decks. If Goblin Anarchomancer is good enough for those Gruul commander decks, why not that cute little bug Thornscape Familiar? Why limit your Dimir deck to artifact ramp when you could get a regenerating blocker in addition with Nightscape Familiar? 

Nine-Lives Familiar

The newest familiar on the block is Nine-Lives Familiar. Playing on that classic idiom of a cat's nine lives, this unassuming creature will reanimate itself eight times before it's finally time to say goodbye. 

Nine-Lives Familiar goes great with aristocrats decks that were already planning on sacrificing their creatures over and over again, and even better with decks that can proliferate those counters. 

Tyrant's Familiar

Now that's what I call a familiar! I'd just like to meet the mage who sat down one day and thought, "Yeah, a huge dragon would make a great laboratory assistant." My gut says it was Sarkhan.

Tyrant's Familiar is a 7/7 flier with the rare Lieutenant ability: a static effect that turns on while you control your commander. This familiar's specific brand of assistance involves launching a seven damage fireball at your opponents whenever you attack, doubling the potential damage you'll see from a 7/7 flier hitting the field. 

Obviously, Tyrant's Familiar loves a Dragon kindred deck, but don't let its creature type or high mana value stop you from slamming it into any ol' red deck you want. I like it alongside Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh since it's so easy to keep Rograkh on the field.

Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar

Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar is the only legendary familiar. I love the ability to pick through the top three cards of your library to filter away unwanted cards, but for six mana, I can't justify recommending Tomorrow as your commander. That said, Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar can technically stop you from decking out when an effect makes you draw more cards than are left in your library, since it replaces any draw with its effect.

Obstinate Familiar

I was unaware this card even existed when I started this piece, but I've fallen in love with Obstinate Familiar. This weird little Lizard lets you skip any draw you might make, and the possible situations where you'd actually want to do this makes my head spin. Why was this printed? Was there a serious problem with people being Braingeysered to death during Odyssey? Or were they just prepping for the printing of Flubs, the Fool twenty-odd years down the line? If you can think of any interesting commanders or play patterns with Obstinate Familiar, please leave a comment! I'm dying to find a home for this guy that isn't just an all-Lizards deck.

Bramble Familiar

Bramble Familiar is the only familiar with an Adventure built-in, and one of only four rare familiars printed so far. For seven mana, you can mill seven cards and then return a specific permanent from amongst them directly to the battlefield. It can also be played as a 2/2 for two that can tap to add green mana. Or, you can tap it and discard a card to return it to your hand, letting you cast the Adventure half of the card again. This might(?) be one of the only Adventure cards with a built-in way to recast its Adventure, making it one of the most valuable bodies for that effect. 

Biomancer's Familiar

Ugh, the freakish little mutant that is Biomancer's Familiar looks like it feels awfully sticky and slimy to the touch, but its effect can't be discounted just because it looks gross. Reducing the cost of activated abilities is a rare effect, seen only sparingly outside of equip-cost reduction. Biomancer's Familiar goes great alongside any commander with an activated ability with a mana cost, so cards like Kenessos, Priest of Thassa and Gretchen Titchwillow love this guy. 

Refurbished Familiar

Refurbished Familiar hit Pauper like a hostile takeover when MH3 dropped, dumping gasoline on the already-miles-wide uncontrolled forest fire that is Pauper Affinity decks. This robotic little Rat is a 2/1 with flying and a forced discard that you should never be paying more than one black mana for. Getting a body on a pseudo-Duress might sound like small peanuts, but that's because it is! As a common, you can't get much more valuable than two commons stapled together, especially with a small chance you'll replace the Refurbished Familiar if your opponent is Hellbent (oh! Another great use for Obstinate Familiar!)

Wrap Up

This list is by no means exhaustive (there are 47 total creatures with "familiar" in their name in Magic), but I do think I've assembled the most notable ones here. Let me know what your favorite familiars are and where you think they'll go in the future!

Thanks for reading!